


Odd

by gallifreyanlibertea



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Alternate Universe - Neighbors, Bunny England, M/M, Wolf America
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-05
Updated: 2018-06-05
Packaged: 2019-05-18 15:55:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,546
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14855738
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gallifreyanlibertea/pseuds/gallifreyanlibertea
Summary: Arthur moves into a house across from a not-so-menacing wolf, who has a not-so-secret crush on him.





	Odd

**Author's Note:**

> This was a fill to a request I got on tumblr for some wolf x bunny

“I was wondering if you had… um,” Arthur wondered what it was today. “Some sugar? White sugar.”

Alfred Jones had a sweet tooth, it seemed, because this was the third time this week he had asked Arthur to borrow ingredients for a confection he claimed to be making. And here, Arthur thought wolves were the more savory type.

Well, Alfred was different. He was… odd. Arthur remembered being scared senseless only two weeks ago, when he had moved into the house that was directly beside one that was inhabited by a wolf. Arthur had seen him as he dragged his heavy bags up the steps into his new home. He had remembered watching, wide-eyed, as his new neighbor absent-mindedly peeked into his mailbox, those large, tanned, muscular arms, hanging at the sides of a large, muscular torso- attached to large, muscular legs, and god- Arthur had felt faint.  _He didn’t recall his realtor telling him there was a wolf in the neighborhood!_  The man could’ve crushed his skull with his two fingers! He had contemplated turning on his heel and finding another home right then and there, when the wolf had looked up from reading a letter.

He had glanced back down, to which Arthur had wondered how quickly he would have to shift his belongings into the house before the wolf glanced back up in shock at the sight of a rabbit moving in next to him.

It had been not even a second later. The man had glanced back up, blue eyes wide behind his glasses, “Oh- hi, there! You must be the new neighbor.”

Yes, Alfred Jones- as he had introduced himself to Arthur, stammering and red-faced as he had stretched his hand out for Arthur to hesitantly shake- was odd.

And it had taken Arthur  _far_ too long to finally understand why Alfred had held the handshake a bit too long, pulling away with a flustered smile and a wag of his tail as he offered to help move Arthur’s heavy bags for him.

“Good afternoon!” Alfred chirped.

Arthur had blinked. It had been days after their first meeting, and Alfred already seemed comfortable enough to peer over the low fence that divided their backyards,  _half dressed too_ , and while Arthur had been in the middle of reading a rather good book.

Really, he hadn’t thought it was too hot outside. Patches of clouds blocked the sun’s rays, and a thin layer of dew rested on the grass from the rain that had sprinkled over the yard only half an hour before, so Arthur had dried off his lawn chair and taken a seat. However, as soon as he’d stepped out, Alfred came bumbling out of his own house, shirt coming clean off as soon as Arthur’s eyes rose from his book to meet Alfred’s baby blues.

“It’s  _boiling_  out here.” Had been Alfred’s reasoning.

Odd.

Alfred had tripped over the long green hose he used to water his plants. “I’m just out here to garden a bit. I love plants n’ stuff yanno. I have some… um, I have some carrots here too.”

It was funny, Arthur hadn’t recalled there being a garden the first day he’d moved in. It had seemed to appear almost mysteriously the day after: tufts of carrot tops and herb leaves peeked out of the ground, similar to the garden Arthur had set up in his own yard.

“Um, but Mr. Jones-” Arthur had put away his book, “It already rained just a while ago, I don’t know if you should be watering your plants again.”

Alfred blinked. “Oh. Right, yeah, you’re right… I guess I’ll just… go back inside.”

Arthur had smiled, looking back into his book.

“God, I-” Arthur had glanced back up as Alfred cleared his throat to speak again, “I’m really bad at gardening, aren’t I?”

“Well, if I can help in any way, let me know.” Arthur had said in response.

He hadn’t, of course, expected Alfred to ask him to come over to his backyard  _right this second, it’s urgent!_ to check on the health of his plants. “I mean, I just wanna make sure they’re not dead. You’re a bunny. Right? You guys know how to take care of plants.”

“Rabbit.” Arthur had corrected. He didn’t know why he hadn’t just conjured an excuse to keep reading. Arthur watched Alfred unhook the fence door and usher Arthur into his yard. 

Needless to say, there was a reason wolves didn’t keep gardens, and Alfred specifically ought to have kept to tradition, because he was in no way competent to handle plant life.

“These plants have been watered to death, Mr. Jones!” Arthur had said with a gasp, a long blond ear twitching at the sight of shrivelled, damp leaves strewn across the dark earth, as if bloated.

Arthur wasn’t surprised! Every time Arthur stepped out for some air, it seemed Alfred was outside too, in a manner of seconds, watering his plants.

Never mind it took Arthur weeks to realize the idiot wolf had been doing it as an excuse to ogle Arthur in his shorts. At the moment, Alfred had seemed like a very dedicated man. He’d seemed  _odd._  Arthur had never known a wolf to be one for plant care.

So Arthur had helped him. He’d told him the simplest way to raise new plants and Alfred had listened intently, hanging on to every word that left Arthur’s lips.

Arthur had gone home with his chest swollen with pride at the fact that he’d been of service to a  _wolf_ of all people. See, wolves never listened to rabbits, no. The predator-prey instincts of the traits tucked away in their ancestral DNA had led rabbits to shy away from the likes of wolves, and led to a sort of wolf-superiority-complex, despite the fact that at this point, they were more human than anything, save for their few animal features.

Yet there Arthur was! He had been proud of himself to get a man like Alfred to listen to what he had to say.

Of course, Arthur came to realize later that the only service he’d provided Alfred was the red flush in the wolf’s cheeks from having eyed the contours of Arthur’s lips for  _the entirety_ of Arthur’s instruction, not having heard a word that came out of Arthur’s mouth over the beating of Alfred’s own heart because, well, Alfred had apparently sported a  _raging_ crush on him. 

Arthur should’ve known! Hell, he had been oblivious every single time Alfred mowed his lawn where Arthur could see, shirt discarded as Alfred flexed his muscle for no apparent reason.

Alfred had taken up morning runs at the same time Arthur would embark on his walks-  _oh wow, funny to see you here, Arthur! Where are you off to? Oh- th- there? Uh… I’m going the same way, actually!_

And Alfred would slow down to Arthur’s pace, every time, until Arthur’s morning walks became a time he would walk out in front of Alfred’s door, pausing momentarily until Alfred came out to join him, tail wagging.

Arthur should’ve known simply based on the number of times Alfred needed to borrow flour, or eggs, or milk-

Or sugar, as Alfred asked two weeks after they’d met.

Arthur had let him in, as always, “Are you a baker, Alfred?”

“Uh, I guess you could say I dabble?” Was Alfred’s weak reply, “I was just in the mood for making some… um… cake.”

“What kind of cake?” Arthur asked politely, searching his cupboards for his jar of sugar.

“… carrot cake!” Alfred blurted. Arthur raised a brow, unknown to the wolf behind him.

“Carrot? I didn’t think wolves liked carrots.”

Arthur’s ear twitched to the sound behind him, or rather, a lack thereof. Arthur heard a sharp inhale, and then, nothing, as if Alfred had held his breath.

“Nah, I like all sorts of… vegetables. I’m not really a meat kinda guy.”

Arthur turned at that, “You don’t eat meat?”

Alfred winced, “No, I lied. I do.”

Arthur furrowed his brows, to which Alfred sighed in what looked like defeat. Blue eyes were trained on the floor.

“Look, I mean, I could stop eating it if that’s what you want. I could go vegetarian.”

“I beg your pardon?” Arthur said, “What? Wh- why on _earth_  would I want you to go vegetarian, Alfred? Are you alright?”

“I mean, it’s not going to be too difficult! I’ll do it.” Alfred said, as if convincing Arthur, and it really didn’t make a lick of sense to him! That seemed apparent by the look in Arthur’s eyes because Alfred chewed his lip, “I mean, I had a roommate back in college that dated a rabbit and she made him go vegan so, if you get what I mean…”

And Arthur had laughed. He laughed because _he was an idiot, an oblivious bumbling idiot!_  “Alfred, come on now, I wouldn’t make a friend go vegan!”

Alfred had paused, eyes dragging up from the floor to look at Arthur with a look of disbelief that Arthur hadn’t understood. “A friend?”

See, Arthur had mistaken it for doubt. He’d pressed the jar of sugar into Alfred’s hands with a reassuring smile, “I don’t mind your habits, or you being a wolf, really. You’ve been a great neighbor and a great friend.”

Alfred took the sugar, eyes retreating back to look at the floor. “Right. Okay. Thank you for the sugar, I’ll- I’ll bring it back as soon as I’m done.”

“Have fun,” Arthur said with a smile as Alfred shut the door behind him, and then he paused, smile melting away. The gears in his brain clicked into place as he gasped, hands cupping his mouth.  _“Oh!”_

It was now that Arthur  _finally got it, it all made sense, and he was a colossal, dimwitted_ fool!

Of course, Alfred had just poured his heart out and Arthur had laughed and called him a  _friend._  Although he was in no way obligated to say yes even though Alfred had asked, Alfred deserved a proper, well-meaning rejection! They were neighbors for god’s sake! They would be seeing each other every day, and Arthur had gone and made it all awkward. He’d ruined it all.

Arthur reached for the door handle. He then paused. What would he even say?

 _I’m truly so sorry, Alfred, I misunderstood what you meant and I-_ then what? _I think we would be better friends?_

Did Arthur really believe that?

He hadn’t given it much thought. The only men Arthur had ever dated were rabbits like himself, so he’d seen nothing in Alfred but the wolf that lived next door.

Right?

Arthur furrowed his brows, taking to pacing across the floor. 

Well, since when was he in the habit of putting away a book to help a neighbor? Arthur wasn’t necessarily a ‘good bunny’. He preferred solitude to anything, yet every morning, he waited for that wagging tail and those bright, blue eyes.

Now that he thought about it, how had he noticed that Alfred would take to flexing as he mowed the lawn if Arthur hadn’t been looking out his window to watch it? He could’ve gone back to doing whatever he’d been doing but _no,_ Arthur was watching. He was always shamelessly watching, turning away only when he felt Alfred was about to glance up and find him looking. 

It seemed Arthur was just as much oblivious to himself as he was to Alfred Jones.

So before he knew it, Arthur was knocking at his neighbor’s door. Alfred opened up before Arthur could even knock the second time. “Hey, what’s up?”

Arthur froze, tongue numb in his mouth. It seemed that once he’d come to terms with everything, Alfred suddenly seemed so intimidating. Not quite in the sharp-fanged predator sort of way- rather, as the attractive neighbor next door. The two shared a similarity in that Arthur truly felt like a cornered animal of prey. 

His tail twitched, but he was glad it was far too small for Alfred to see. “Have you started making the cake yet?”

“No,” Alfred said, hand coming to scratch the back of his head sheepishly. “I was going to in a while-”

“Good, I was hoping you’d say that.” Arthur said feverishly, “I was thinking I could help, since you probably don’t know how to make it.”

Alfred laughed lightly, “Yeah, I really don’t. I’d appreciate the assistance.”

He moved aside, making way for Arthur to enter.

Arthur paused halfway through the door. “Alfred, I completely misunderstood what you had said, I’m so sorry I didn’t give you a proper response.”

“Misunderstood?” Alfred said, and Arthur walked further into the house, hearing Alfred shut the door behind him.

“Well, I didn’t know you were… that you-”

“That I liked you?” Alfred completed. Arthur’s cheeks flushed in response as he turned to face Alfred.

“Yes. I don’t want you to think I’d ever want someone to change the way they are for me, or-”

“Hey, it’s no worries!” Alfred said. His tail swished behind him. His eyes twinkled in slight mirth, an expression Arthur could sense was forced. “I didn’t think you would, but you know how crazy a crush can make somebody. You don’t have to give me an answer for my sake, I’ll survive. Let’s make some cake!”

He then turned to enter his kitchen, shuffling around pots and pans, “Say, I really have no idea what to use, mind helping me out?”

When Arthur didn’t reply, nor did he move, Alfred turned to face him, smile melting into a slight look of concern. “You okay?”

“I think you misunderstood me.”

Alfred furrowed his brows. HIs grey ears flattened against his caramel blond hair in mild confusion. “Huh?”

“I don’t want you to think you’d need to change the way you are… when you’re dating me.”

And those ears perked up just as fast as a smile spilled from Alfred’s lips, as fast as he practically stumbled out of the kitchen over to Arthur, tail wagging. 

“When I’m dating you?”

“Yes.” Arthur replied, cheeks tinted pink, “I was hoping this carrot cake would be our first one. Our first date, I mean.”

Silence. Alfred grinned, “Then let’s start dating.”

Of course, like Arthur had expected, Alfred hadn’t really liked the carrot cake. The wolf wrinkled his nose after the first fork-full, glancing over at Arthur with a pout, “You said I wouldn’t have to change myself for you, right?”

And Arthur laughed, brushing the flour off Alfred’s cheekbone because really, this whole situation was nothing but  _odd-_ Arthur could imagine his mother’s shrieking if he ever told her he was romantically involved with a wolf.

A wolf with sweet blue eyes, tan skin that glowed under the kitchen light, and grey ears that twitched atop his blond hair when he smiled. Arthur forked another chunk of cake into his mouth, “There’s more for me, then.”

Alfred smiled, tail wagging blissfully behind him as he leaned forward to press his elbows onto the countertop, cradling his face in his hands. “Since we’re on the topic of things you rabbits love, I absolutely hate gardening, hate everything about it. I only watered those plants to check you out.”

“I figured, Alfred.”


End file.
